


Gestalt

by vectacular



Series: A-to-Z of Firestorm! [7]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Future Fic, M/M, rating is for possibly disturbing content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:01:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23545075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vectacular/pseuds/vectacular
Summary: When Yusaku was young, he was kidnapped for a year. It was a hellish time, filled with isolation and fear.The fear’s never really gone away.And never has Ai.
Relationships: Fujiki Yuusaku/Homura Takeru
Series: A-to-Z of Firestorm! [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1537111
Kudos: 11





	Gestalt

**Author's Note:**

> **Warnings** : Major char death, as shown in the tags, fucked up experiments. (Tell me if I need more?) 
> 
> I enjoy thinking of all the different ways and affects of the LI. It's very fascinating! This fic took a while because of other things, and quite frankly, me being a bit of a coward. But I've done it in the way it's meant to be in the end, so yeah.

When Yusaku was young, he was kidnapped for a year. It was a hellish time, filled with isolation and fear. 

The fear’s never really gone away.

And never has Ai. 

* * *

He wakes up with a headache, making him groan and burrow into Takeru’s side. Even asleep, Takeru envelops him, and he takes a moment to push back the pain. 

Every day, he hopes to wake up without a chattering sound in his mind, but no. **_How rude, Yusaku!_** Ai scolds him, and he groans again, head aching. **_Ah. Sorry._**

It doesn’t take long for Takeru to wake up, yawning as he stretches around Yusaku. Takeru rubs his eyes and then looks at him, which quickly turns into concern. “What’s wrong?” 

“Headache,” he answers. Takeru’s hands come up to card through his hair, and he closes his eyes as his boyfriend’s hands move to massage his forehead and temples. “Is Flame being annoying?” 

“Nah,” Takeru moves to kiss him over his face, “want me to get you a painkiller?” 

Yusaku sighs, relaxing in Takeru’s warmth and affection, “I’ll get up and get some eventually,” he mumbles and starts kissing back. The part of his mind where Ai resides folds in on itself―which is the closest they can get for privacy with two A.I.’s in you and your boyfriend’s heads―and a part of his headache eases.

* * *

After spending an hour just kissing and doing nothing, they figured it was time to get. Takeru would go on his morning like the person he is, and Yusaku would be getting rid of his headache. Gulping down some painkillers alongside his normal pills, he goes into the bathroom to wash his face. 

**_You look like shit_** , Ai says. His eyes tingle, and he can see his pupil becoming gold as Ai looks through his eyes. _Thanks_ , he replies blankly. A torrent of anger rips through him and he takes a deep breath, resisting the urge to― 

“Yusaku,” Takeru says, in the bathroom doorway, brows furrowed. 

“It’s already going to be a bad day,” Yusaku says softly and he stares at the floor. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll be here,” Takeru comes in and takes his hands, squeezing them tightly as they walk out of the bathroom. 

* * *

Yusaku has, to put it mildly, a healthy case of paranoia. Takeru also has it, another part of the gift given to them from their kidnapping.

Which is why he’s pretty sure he’s being watched. Looking around covertly, he can’t find the person, but he can feel it. 

Putting a hand in his pocket, he fumbles until he gets his phone out, quickly calling Takeru as he walks. “ _Yusaku?_ ” Takeru’s voice is concerned, especially when Yusaku considers how rare it is to actually call his boyfriend.

“Uh, hi,” he swallows as he finds a grocery store, ducking into it, “just wondering if you wanted anything from the store?” He mumbles quickly, looking over his shoulder. No-one, but he still _knows_ he’s being watched.

Takeru hums in thought, “could do with more white miso, the _paste_ Yusaku, not the powder,” his boyfriend points out and he smiles. “Is everything good?” 

“Just―“ he licks his lips, “just―I think I’m being followed?” He gives a short despairing laugh at the end as he goes to the aisle with the miso products, picking up what Takeru wanted. 

Takeru inhales sharply, “Yusaku, tell me―“ 

“I’ll be back home soon, there’s no need for you to come meet me,” he says quietly as he picks up some lychee drinks from the refreshments near the checkouts, “it’s just―a feeling,” he quickly scans the things through self-checkout and pays. 

“Still―“ Takeru sounds frustrated.

“I’ll see you soon. Love you,” he rushes out of the store, _still_ with whoever’s watching him.

“Love you.” 

* * *

Between his programming job and then Takeru’s teaching martial arts, sometimes simple things fall through the cracks, and that’s _without_ even piling on the after-effects of their trauma onto it. 

Yusaku squints at the pile of laundry in distaste. **_Just get it over with,_ ** Ai says. 

Yusaku groans and looks around, checking the state of the laundry. He’s pretty sure Takeru did it last time, so it’s his now. Sadly, it looks like they have enough stuff for their washing, so he can’t put it off by saying that they need more detergent. 

_I miss Roboppi_ , he frowns as he sorts through the dirty clothes and puts on a load of clothes. His own robot, built from his own hands, died last year, and he didn’t even think of backing up any of their data. 

**_Just make another Roboppi! Roboppi… 2!_ **Ai chirps loudly as he sits down on the couch. 

_Ugh_ , he closes his eyes, _maybe if I had more spare time. And motivation._

Being an adult sucks. 

The door starts to click open, and he looks at his phone, finding it the time Takeru comes home. _Already?_

“Yusaku!” Takeru almost-yells as he comes in, putting his duffle bag next to the door. “I was thinking we should get take-away for dinner? What d’you think?” His boyfriend smiles, which Yusaku can’t help to return. 

“Sounds great,” he replies, and notes that Takeru definitely used his dojo’s showers with how fresh he smells as they kiss. _What would I do without you?_

* * *

The watched feeling persists, and Yusaku’s not sure how much of the feeling is real, or made by his own paranoia. Ai… isn’t much help with that, considering Ai’s in it’s own part of his mind, and can’t really feel and perceive things without Yusaku’s own senses.

He feels watched now.

Which is expected, considering they’re both at the front of the line for New Year’s prayers at a temple, as Yusaku tries to think anything of it. 

After the prayers and getting their fortunes, Takeru looks around with a frown. “Should we leave?” 

“Yeah,” he sighs in relief as they pocket their fortunes, keeping them for home. 

Takeru’s arm twines around his, keeping him close as they leave the temple and waiting for the bus. Takeru keeps looking behind them, and the relief he feels due to them actually being watched, doesn’t bode well. 

* * *

At first, Yusaku thinks it’s a nightmare as he wakes up with a terrible headache. The first thing he sees is a white ceiling. Distantly, he hears screaming. 

**_YUSAKU! THIS ISN’T A DREAM!!_ **Ai, closer, screams into his nerves and he jolts back into alertness, gasping. The screaming is louder now, and he tries to move. His arms and legs are bound to the bed with rope. 

Cold fear feels like it replaces his blood as he turns towards the shouting 

A row of beds. Five beds, six including his. He doesn’t need to count to know. A row of beds, with clear contraptions hanging over their heads and they’re all screaming, all of them in white hospital garb. _Takeru’s screaming right next to him!_

The contraption above Takeru’s head slowly becomes green as his screaming grows louder, piercing his ears. Yusaku looks around, panic and adrenaline racing as he looks for a way out. The contraption above his own head starts to light up slowly, and Yusaku doesn’t want whatever the fuck’s going on, thanks. 

There’s a moment of pure rage and fear where he, and Ai, scream in unison, and whoever tied him to the bed must’ve done a bad job because the rope loosens around his right wrist. Heart racing, he pulls his arm out, then quickly works on the other’s around his body. 

As he gets the last rope off, he’s suddenly aware of how quiet it is. Gulping, he looks to the other beds. The clear sphere around their heads are now blue, and he’s not sure what that means, and he falls out of the bed, managing to catch himself on the edge of Takeru’s. 

Yusaku quickly undoes Takeru’s ropes, and then moves to the next bed with shaky legs. After undoing all the ropes, he sees that the contraption that was meant to be for him is flashing red. _That can’t be good_ , he thinks distantly. 

“Takeru? Takeru?” He whispers as he shakes Takeru’s shoulders, pulling up his boyfriend from the bed. “We have to go,” he whispers, glancing back at the other’s bed with a frown. 

The way out is long and winding and white, with lots of hiding whenever he hears someone nearby. Yusaku wonders if there’s security cameras at all, or not because of the illegal experimentation. So far, at least, no alarms have been raised, which is a blessing as he sees a door leading outside. 

Yusaku resists the urge to collapse in relief as they reach the outdoors, knowing they’re not safe yet. Around the building they were in is a forest, and he doesn’t care about leaves and sticks pricking his feet as they walk through it. 

**_You should rest_** , Ai says quietly. A part of him wants to keep going until they reach a road or something, but with how fast his heart’s going, Ai’s right. Sighing, he rests next to a tree, on the look out for any torches.

“Takeru?” Yusaku frows, heart twisting at his boyfriend’s responsiveness. “Takeru?” 

**_I don’t like this,_ **Ai’s voice is still quiet, and he agrees. The light from the moon and stars is enough for him to see Takeru’s head raise to look at him. 

“Yusa… ku?” Takeru… says. Though, it doesn’t sound like Takeru at all. The inflection’s all wrong. 

“W―What’d they do, what happened?” Takeru continues to stare at him blankly, brows furrowed in worry and he leans in, “Takeru,” he pleas. 

“I―don’t know. How to say this,” every stilted word breaks Yuaku’s heart, mind blaring _wrongwrongwrongwrong_. “I’m not. Takeru.” Yusaku swallows and cracks a laugh, trying to look at Takeru’s eyes with the light there is, and a terrible idea grips his insides. 

“... Flame?” _Nononononononono_ , he thinks as Not Takeru nods. “But you―but he’s, Takeru, he’s―“ he stutters, breath speeding up into hyperventilation. **_Yusaku, Yusaku, breathe_** , Ai repeats to him until his breath eventually evens out. 

“He’s not. Here,” Not Takeru says, and the wrong inflection, the wrong way to speak, the wrong emotion (no emotion) makes him want to heave. “They. They,” Yusaku shakes his head in denial, curling into a ball, “they killed him.” 

“Nono,” he repeats to himself, _this is just a nightmare. I’ll wake up. I’ll wake up,_ he thinks desperately, feeling Ai’s approximation of pity and despair next to his mind. 

Not Takeru―Flame―lays a hand on his shoulder and he shakes it off, walking away from _him_. “Yusaku,” the way Not Takeru says his name makes him flinch, “I am sorry. I tried to―“

“Shut up!” He snaps, “stop! Talking! Shut up!” Yusaku kneels on the ground, clutching his head tightly. “I hate you!” 

“I miss Takeru,” Not Takeru blankly says. 

Grief crashes into Yusaku at that, swallowing him whole.

_**[Fin]** _

**Author's Note:**

> *insert metaphor about making an omelette here* 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed! :D Now to think up for my next one.... I think I had an idea somewhere... eh, it'll pop up again eventually. 
> 
> Consider feeding me lots of comments and kudos because of that sweet, sweet validation. _Especially_ comments. Hope you're all safe and healthy during these times, as well~ ♥ ♥
> 
> [Firestorm discord!](https://discord.gg/dhpZN8N) | [Tumblr](https://lenreli.tumblr.com/post/614840161123074048/new-fs-fic-18k-mind-the-warnings-link) | [Twitter](https://twitter.com/lenreli/status/1247899161690656768)


End file.
